BULIMIA
Eating disorders are serious behavior problems. Eating disorders include:
- Anorexia nervosa, in which you become too thin, but you don't eat enough because you think you are fat
- Bulimia nervosa, involving periods of overeating followed by purging, sometimes through self-induced vomiting or using laxatives
- Binge-eating, which is out-of-control eating
Bulimia (buh-LEE-me-ah) nervosa is a type of eating disorder. It is often called just bulimia. A person with bulimia eats a lot of food in a short amount of time. This is called binging. The person may fear gaining weight after a binge. Binging also can cause feelings of shame and guilt. So, the person tries to "undo" the binge by getting rid of the food. This is called purging. Purging might be done by:
- making yourself throw up
- taking laxatives (LAX-uh-tiv) — pills or liquids that speed up the movement of food through your body and lead to a bowel movement
- exercising a lot
- eating very little or not at all
- taking water pills to urinate
